A Long, Tragic Journey: Intense Prison Crime and Drama

By Marshall Jackson

Despite growing up in a neighborhood saturated by drugs, prostitution, and violence, Jake Stone has big dreams of living a wonderful life. When he eventually succumbs to the temptations of the streets, Jake embarks on a dark journey through drug and alcohol abuse that eventually leads him to enlist in the navy where he hopes to find a new beginning.

When Jake returns to civilian life and takes up his old addictions, he has no choice but to immerse himself in a life of crime to support his habits. After he is arrested and convicted for robbery, Jake is sent to prison, released, and arrested again for murder. Sentenced to over one hundred years in jail, Jake must now endure relentless transfers, a corrupted prison system, and his own restlessness to make something of himself despite his obstacles. After he studies law, Jake focuses on transforming the bad into good as he attempts to orchestrate his release and marries a prison nurse. When Jake is finally released into the free world more than thirty years later, only one question remains: Will he finally be able to achieve the happily ever after he has always wanted?

A Long, Tragic Journey shares the story of one mans struggle to survive the tragedies of the prison system and find his purpose in life.

• Language: English
• Publisher: iUniverse
• Release date: Jul 29, 2015
• ISBN: 9781491772720

Marshall Jackson

Marshall Jackson is a United States Air Force veteran who received an honorable discharge. He earned a bachelor’s degree from Ball State University. Marshall is now living a peaceful life with his wife in Anderson, Indiana. This is his first book.

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Copyright © 2015 Marshall Jackson.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping or by any information storage retrieval system without the written permission of the publisher except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

This is a work of fiction. All of the characters, names, incidents, organizations, and dialogue in this novel are either the products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously.

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ISBN: 978-1-4917-7271-3 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-4917-7272-0 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2015911749

iUniverse rev. date: 07/20/2015

CONTENTS

Chapter One

Chapter Two

Chapter Three

Chapter Four

Chapter Five

Chapter Six

Chapter Seven

Chapter Eight

Chapter Nine

Chapter Ten

Chapter Eleven

Chapter Twelve

INTRODUCTION

A Long, Tragic Journey is a short fiction story about a young criminal name Jake Stone. Jake grew-up in a slum that was infested with crime, drugs, sex, and money. Because of Jake’s drug additions, he turned to a life of crime to support drug habits. Jake got arrested and convicted for robbery. He was sent to prison for ten years. After spending time in prison, Jake is released on parole. On the outside, Jake returns back to the life of drugs and crime. The police arrest Jake for more crimes, and murder. Jake is facing the death penalty, if convicted for murder. After Jake is convicted for robbery-murder and other crimes, a criminal court sentenced Jake to prison for the second time to one hundred and eighty-years for his crimes. Once again, in the prison system, Jake is transferred from prison to prison. During these transitions in the system, there were many fatal tragedies. In his plight for freedom, Jake studied the law and became a jailhouse lawyer. At times, he worked as a law clerk and filed documents to get release, as soon as possible. The prison populations that Jake experienced were similar to a society because these prisons were saturated with sex, prison crime, drugs, violence, and money. Corruption was also apparent in the system because prison officials accept bribes for the right price. Prisoners and prison officials are romantically involved, murdered, raped, and married. A money making scam is used to make millions of dollars. Due to the many tragedies, it appears that the system is simply out of control and dangerous. Jake comes in contact with Texas prisoners who started a riot because of mistreatment from staff and Illinois prisoners. The system is tough and more than a challenge to survive. The system could be anyone’s worst nightmare.

Jake falls in love with a prison nurse who had a major impact on his life. Jake and his honey want to get married. Jake is ready for a new way of life, without crime and drugs.

After fighting for his right to get married, Jake had a wedding at the prison chapel. After serving more than thirty-years in prison, and a changed man, Jake is released back into the free world.

Outside, Jake and his wife are living happy ever after, as she helps Jake adjust to the changes in the world. A Long, Tragic Journey will entertain and reveal to you tragedies of a corrupt prison system.

CHAPTER ONE

Born in Northern Illinois, Jake Stone is an African American male, the twelfth of thirteen children of Sadie Mae and Paul Stone. Jake has six brothers and six sisters. The family lived on the ghetto side of the city. Drugs, prostitution, and violence saturated the neighborhood. Crime was at an all-time high and out of control. Local law enforcement, along with the state police, responded with all hands on deck.

When Jake was nine years old, his father died from cancer, so his mother raised the family on her own and did not